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~PECULATIVE EVERYTHING

In Dream : Re-imaging Progressive Politics in an Age of Fantasy Stephen

Duncombe argues that the radical left has relied too heavily on reason,

ignoring th e place f antasy and fabricated r ealit ies play in our lives . From

theme park s to soap operas to brands , whether we li ke it or not, we now li ve

with in a mu lt itude of r ea li t ies . Duncombe argu es that radicals need to embrace

this and use it to critical effect, to subvert spectacle for public good and

progressive politics . This is particularly challenging for designers becau se we

are usually on the wrong side of spectacle, helping construct ones that

encourage people to consume more . Can speculative design t ake on a social

and possib ly political role , comb ining the poetic, cr it ical , and progressive by

app lying excessive ly imag inat iv e thinking to seriously large sc ale issues?

159 SPECULATIVE EVERYTHING

llllllOuqll op<' t'dting dL d sy <, Lcm ic l<>vcl, lc~r·q p sc<ll e !:. pcc uldLiv c Lhinking

is difr erenL from design Lhinking and soc ia l design . Design thinking is

concern ed with problem solving, and although social design moves away from a

purely commercial agenda to deal with more complex human problems, it too

focuses on fixing things . Large-scale speculat ive design contests "offic ial

reality " ; it is a form of dissent expressed through alternative design

proposals . It aims to be inspirational , infectious, and catalytic , zooming out

and stepping back to address values and ethics . It strives to overcome the

invisible wall separat ing dreams and imagination from everyday li fe , blurring

dist inctions between the " real " real and the "unreal " real . The former exists

in the here-and-now, whereas the latter l ies behind glass screens, within the

pages of books , and locked in people ' s imaginations . Design specu lations can

give form to the multiverse of worlds our world could be . Whereas it is

accepted that the present is caused by the past it is also possib le to th ink of

it being shaped by the future , by our hopes and dreams f or tomorrow .

FR EE AGENTS

Change can happen in a number of ways : 1 propaganda , semiotic and

subconscious communi cat ion, persuasi on and argument, art, terrorism , social

engineering, guilt, social pressure, changing lifestyles, legislation,

punishmen t , taxation , and individual ac tion . Design can be combined with any

of these but it is the last one- individual action- that we value most . We

believe change starts with t he indi vidua l and that the ind ividual needs to be

presented with many opt ions to form an opin ion .

When design is discussed in relat ion to change, the notion of " nudge " 2

often surfaces . The suggestion is that design ca n modify our behavior by

nudging us to make choices that someone , usually a client organization , wou ld

like us to make . To encourage schoolchildren to eat more healthily , for

example, junk food might be displayed on lower shelves in a shop and healthy

food would be placed at eye level . Stanford - based psychologist B. J Fogg has

worked in this area since the early 1990s , calling it captology . 3 His focus is on

the overlap between pe rsuasion and computers, usually applied to small-scale

interact ions rather than socia l change . But once it moves beyond interactions

with technology to the social or mass sca le , it can fee l more like social

engi neering . This i s on e of the difficul tie s we ha ve with design t h inking

applied by service designers to public service projects. It can be used to

modify our behavior in a slightly underhanded way . For example, on the UK

Government ' s Cabinet Office website , it says the follow ing : "The Behavioura l

Insights Team was set up in July 2010 with a remi t to find innovative way s of

160 CHAPTER 9

enrourd<Jinu, !•n.tl>lirt<J drHJ c,uppor ting people Lo mdk e I)CLt.rr c hoi ces for

th emse lv es . " 4

We be li eve that our behavior does need to change, but it should be up

to either ind ividua ls to make cha ng es in their behav ior (for examp le, in hea lt h

and exercise) or the government to ban some kinds of behavior (such as

smoking, which effects everyone, not just the smoker) . At both extremes

the rationale for change is explicit . Design can play a role in hig hlighting what

might happen if behavior does not cha nge, what can be achieved if i t does , or

simply commun icating what needs to change and how . Of course this is an

idealist ic view of human nature that does not allow for poor education or

other factors, but we prefer to base our design approach on this ideal rat her

than assume peop le have l itt le or no control over the choices they make . We

view peop le as free agents , not necessaril y r ationa l , but f r ee to make up

their own minds . As consumers we can choose not to buy products produced by

companies or countries whose values we disagree with ; as citizens we can

vote, demonstrate, protest, and in extreme cases , riot .

As Erik Olin Wright points out in Envisioning Real Utopias, "the act ua l

limits of what is achievable depend in part on the be liefs peop le ho ld about

what sorts of alternatives are viable . " 5 For us, this is where speculative

design steps in. It can make a whole range of viable and not so viable

possibilities tangible an d available f or consideration . Hright cont inues :

" Claims about socia l lim its of poss i bi lity are differ ent from [these ] cla ims

about physical and biological limits, for in the social case the beliefs people

hold about limits sys tematica lly affect what is possible . Developing

systematic , compelling accounts of viable alternat ives to ex ist ing socia l

structures and institution s of power and priv il ege , th er efore , is one

component of the soc ial proc ess through which the social limits on ach ievable

alternatives can t hems elves be chang ed. " 6

We believe that even nonviable alternatives, as long as they are

imaginative , are valuable and serve as insp irat ion to imagine one ' s own

alternat ives . Speculative design can be a catalyst for t hi s : it can insp ir

imagination and a feeling that, if not exactly anything, more is definite I

possib le. Speculative design contributes to the reimagining not only of 1

itself but also our relat ionship to reality . But for this to happen, we ne

move beyond specu lative des ign, to speculat ive everything-generating .

multitude of world views , ideologies, and possibi l ities . The way the wor ld

follows on from how we think; the ideas inside our heads shape the world

there. If our values , men t al models, and ethics change, then the world

flows from that worldvie w wil l be different, and we hope better .


Wr iting about the value of literature in Such Stuff as Dreams, Keith

Oatley states, " In art we experience the emotion, but with it the possibil ity

of something else, too . The way we see the world ca n change , and we

ourselves can change. Art is not simply taking a ride on preoccupat ions or

prejudices, using a sc hema that runs as usual. Art enab les us to experience

some emotions in contexts that we would not ord inarily encounter , and to

th ink of ourselves in ways that usua lly we do not . " 7

Can design achieve this , t oo, if it is decoup led from narrow commercial

agendas? We th ink so . By embody ing ide as , ideals, and ethics in speculative

proposals design ca n play a sign ificant role in broaden in g our conception of

what is possible .

ONE MILLION LITTLE UTOPIAS

Maybe each human being lives in a unique world, a private world, a world

different from those inhabited and experienced by all other humans.

And that led me wonder, if reality differs from person to person, c an we

speak of reality singular , or shouldn't we rea ll y be talking about plu r al

rea li tie s? And if there are plural rea li t ies , are so me more true (more

rea l ) than others? 8

Phil ip K. Dick wrote this in 1974 just as mass media was affecting rea lity and

blurring the boundaries between inner and outer worlds . We believe, like Phi lip

K. Dick does, that there is no longer one rea lity , but seven billio n different

ones . Th e challenge is to give them form. The individualisti c approac h,

although assoc iated with right- lean ing libera l ism, i s also an impe t us for highly

individua listic micromodifica tion s to reality, usua ll y to sat isfy some desire

that official culture is unable to meet, such as unconventional political views

or specialis t sexual fantasies and fetishes . Timothy Archibald's Sex Machines :

Photographs and lnterviews9 ( 2005) is a wonderful example of people tinkering

with the world around them to accommodate their desires . It is a sha me the

ma chi nes are so phallic and me c ha nical but nonetheless the techn ica l ingenuity

is fasci nat ing . Image Club ( 2003) by Tsuzuki Kyo ichi is a photograph ic

document of environments , props, and serv ices des igned to fac ilitate sexual

fantasies . These are more conceptual than Arch i ba ld's devices because they

work on the mind rather than the body . They are usually one -off

environments set up to aid sexual fan tas ies , specially const ru ct ed parall el

worlds whe r e the usua l ru les govern ing human interactions are suspended. No

matter what the setti ng- tube ca rria ge, c lass r oo m, forest , workp lace-there

is always a bed. Un like sex mach ines, the envi r onments are not we ll crafted ;

there is just enough detail to transport the c lient ' s imagination .

Timothy Arc hiba ld , Dwayne with the Two to Tango

Machine, 2004, from hi s book Sex Machines:

Photographs and Interviews ( Los Angeles : Daniel 13/

Process Media, 2005) . Photograph by Timothy

Archibald .

The const ru ction of one-off micro-utopias bui lt around the desires of a

singl e person or small group is something artists have explored, too. 10 Atelier

Van Lieshout has experimented with fantasy environments wi thin an artis ti c

context, although i t is never clear how mu ch is abou t sati sfying his own

fantasies and how much is commentary . His early work consisted of rooms and

environments designed to make orgies more comfortable and easy to run . In

2001 he took ov er an unu sed plot in the Rotterdam Harbor area , ca ll ed it

AVL - ville, and sought to have it recog ni zed as a free state . Du e to a throw

away remark in a lecture , AVL-ville attracted unwanted attention from

inspectors and the po l ice, creat ing vast amounts of bureaucracy . Eventua ll y

Van Lieshout decided to close AVL - ville so that he could concent rate on

producing art works rather than dealing with officials .


l>c rhdps Lh c mos L success ful f orm o f tlli ( t'o ul opi <t i ', liH' in LcnL ion cl l

community, or its mor e extreme fo rm, t he c ulL. Our fa vorite is Pa nawave .

Based in Japan , one of their core be liefs is th e harm f uln ess of

electromagnet ic radiation , and they go to great lengths to avoid it . Believ ing

that white protects them from harmful rays they cov er their vehic les, c amps,

and personal objects with white fabric . They travel in convoys seeking part s

of Japan with low levels of electromagnetic pollution . They first came t o

public attent ion in the early 2000s dur in g a standoff with police after causing

a huge traffic jam while searching for a safe haven . The i r use of white fabr ic,

tape, and uniforms to protect themselves and their leader from

electromagnetic radiation led to many striking images of their tempora r y camp

circulating in th e media .

Wh ether y ou view t hem as charming eccentrics or r est less idea lists, the

creators and users of these devices and environments defy the str ict rules

Western societies place on mixing different kinds of reality . They inspire us

to question why the real is " real " and the unreal is not; who decides? Is it

market forces , evil gen ius , chance , technology, or secret eli tes?

These projects ce lebrate people ' s ability to make their own imaginative

world views tangible . The days of designers dreaming on behalf of every on e

have passed but designers can still facilitate a dreaming process that unlocks

people's imaginat ions . Micro - utop ias li ke these serve as inspiration,

encouraging no t mega-utopias defined from the top down but seven billi on

little utopias emerging from t he bottom up, facilitated by, not deter mined

by, design .

BIG DE SIGN: THINKIN G THE UNTH INKAB LE

Although inspirational, these externalized dreams and fantasies are sti ll qui te

modest in scale-a disadvantage of working outside official systems, semi

underground, or in the privacy of one ' s home or studio . There are also

dreamers working within the system of industry, fund in g organ izations,

un ivers ities , and markets , who are attempt ing to imagine a better world for

all, even if sometimes they might reflect their own personal obsess ions .

Bu c kminster Fuller would usually spring to mind as an example of t his but

his visions are a little too technolog ical and rat iona l for us . Norman Be l

Geddes , however , mixed mod ern, everyday techno logies wit h dreams ,

fantasy, and the irrational . He went well beyond problem solving , usi ng design

to give form to dreams . In his Highways & Horizons exhibit , better kno wn as

Futurama, for the General Motors pavilion in the 1939 New York World's Fair ,

Bel Geddes designed an env i ronment of large-scale mode ls featu r ing a nationa l

164 CHAPTER 9

ne Lwork 0 f CX fH' <'~,WdY'• , i II usL r il Li n 9 i Ls imp I i t. a L ion •, d ncJ PO '>'> i IJ i I i l i <' '> t. \-JCII Ly

y ears into the r uture . r or exampl e , by speed ing up trarfic flow and reducing

j ourney t ime s , commuters could l ive fu r ther away from city centers , which in

turn affects the workable size of cit ies . At the time Futurama was viewed

very muc h as an America of the near futu r e , a realizable dream r at her than a

fantasy . Other projects wer e c loser to fa ntasy . His Airliner Number 4 ( 192 9 )

was a nine-story, amph ib ian pl ane t wi ce the size of a Boe ing 747 ju mbo j et . It

had room for deck ga mes , an orc hestra , a gymnas ium , a solarium , ai rpl ane

hangars, and could sleep 606 passengers . Bel Geddes intended it to be built

and flown between Chicago and London , but sadly , was unab le to r aise the

necessary f und ing .

Norman Bel Geddes , Airliner No . 4, 1929 . Image courtesy of t he Edith Lutyens

and Norman Bel Geddes Foundation.


In Lh e shddowl ands o f bi g Lhinkinq is t.lw RAND Lo r·pora Lion and IIer man

Kahn. 1 he RAND Corporation developed many o r Lhe Lec hniques used Loday f or

scenario building . 11

Kahn , who coined the phra se " thinking the unth inka ble ,"

more than many, really did think the unthinkable . At one point he

recon ceptualized the practicalities of nuc lear war by th inking t hrough the

aftermath in a rational way : what the costs wou ld be and how America cou ld

rebuild itself after a nuclear war . This alarmed many people because it shifted

t he possibility of a nuc lear war from the realm of the completely unimag inab le

to something much closer to everyday life, even if at an extraordina r i ly high

human and pl anetary cost.

Interview with Herman Kahn , May 11 , 1965 . Photograph by

Thomas J . 0 ' Hal loran . Photogr aph courtesy of Library of Congress

Prints and Photographs Division Washington, DC 20540 USA .

From the post-war years to the 1970s , rather than only being put to

work so lving prob lems, technology wa s also used to ign ite excessive imag in ings

and audacious dreams for how life could be , and not just on earth ; th ere were

many proposals for space co lonies , too . This was not limited to Europe and the

Unit ed States . Dur ing t he same per iod the Sov iet Union dev elope d ma ny

techno logies embodying the dreams, values, and ideals of a parallel communist

world. The Ekranop/an was a heroic attempt to create a novel plane that

166 CHAPTER 9

•, ki mlll t'CiliH' 'd lt ' ldc (' o l Ill (' WdL (' r' u•, inu w ·o und (' if C't l Lo fly dl urcclL !> IH'ctl

de l iv ering v c~•, L numiH'rs or marin es Lo baLt le zo nes separat ed by lar ge lakes .

So vi e t tec hnology, developed outs ide Western ideals and contexts , shows

Lhat techno logy is as much an embod im ent of ideo logy , po li t ics , and c ult ure

as science . One can't help but wo nd er if ideology12

is at the source of true

innovation in the sense that new id eas and thinking come from new and

different ways of viewing the world .

16 7 SPE CU LAT IVE EV ERYTHIN G

The Lun -class Ekranoplan ,

Kaspiysk, 2009 .

Photograph by Igor

Ko lokolov .

The Lun-class Ekranoplan ,

Kaspiysk, 2009 .

Pho tograph by Igor

Kolokolov .

Wi t h a f ew gov ernmenLal excepLions, suc h <l S DARPA wt1rr r some of Lhe

most imag inat ive , boldes t , and ad mirably r idicu lous tll in king is to be found,

invisibility cloaks and holes in time , for examp le-and com mercial exceptions

suc h as Goog le ' s X Lab , whi c h is currently working on space elevators an d

asteroid mining , it feels today as if t he era of big ideas and fantast ic dreams

has passed . Much of today ' s dreaming around technology is shaped by mil itary

pr iorit ies or a short-term, market - led view of the world based on

st and ar dized consumer dreams and desires . And bo ld v isions put f o r wa rd by

arc hitects suc h as Terreform ONE and BIG (Bj arke Inge ls Group) don ' t seem to

include the underlying alternative worldviews and ideology of ea rlier big

t hinkers . Even t he dream of spac e tra ve l has been hypercommod ifi ed ,

becoming just another commercial offer , someth ing artist Joseph Popper

addresses in hi s proj ect One-Way Ticke t (2012) : a pr oposal t o send one perso n

on a voyage in to deep space from which he or she would never return . He made

a short fi lm of ep isodes transmitt ed from t he spacecraft at key moments ,

suggesting unique psyc hological phenomena that might occur on a one - way trip

into deep spa ce . But who would t hi s astronaut be-a volun t ee r with a termin al

i l lness , a lifer opt ing to die for science rather than in prison? Alt hough in this

project, spa ce travel is being cons idered once ag ain , it is anyt hing but

r oma nti c . The messy human details-ethi cal , psychological, and physical-a r e

right in the for eg r ound .

Planetary Res ources Inc ., Astero id Mining , 2012. Swarms of low

cost ro botic spacecraft will enable extraction of resources from

near-earth asteroids .

168 CHAPTER 9

·.~ \

Joseph Popper, The One-Way Ticket , 2012 . Film still .

SOCIAL DREAMING

The social dimension to big thinking has vanished, replaced by science ,

technology , and logic . Where can new world views be developed, how can they

be used to generate new v isions for everyday li fe? Think tanks are supposed

to do this , but as Adam Curtis writes ,

the question is whether most Think Tanks may actua l ly be prevent ing

people th inking of new visions of how society could be organised-and

made fairer and freer . That in reality they have become the armoured

shell that surrounds all politics, constantly setting the agenda through

their PR operations which they then feed to the press , and t hat

prevents genuine ly new ideas break ing through . 13

Other organizations such as The Seasteading Institute t ry t o develop

new possibilities within existing systems by identifying legal loopho les for

establishing new economic zones . One of t he i r proposals is to moor a ship just

off the Californian coast as a base for high-skilled workers who want to

participate in Silicon Valley but are unable to secure work visas . 14

Although

we like the legal cleverness of this proposal we are not so co nvinced by the

ends it serves. Bruce Mau ' s Massive Change Project C 2006) has as i ts motto ,

" It ' s not about the world of design . It's about the design of the world ."

169 SPECULATIVE EVERYTH ING

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1\ r tl11Ltl ~ Li c ~,t dl'li11(j poi Il L . LII C' proj('C L " <'Xp lor'(''> liH' I<'CJclCY tl rl d poLenLid l,

the promi se and pow er of des ign in improvin g Lh e welfare of humanity . "15

But

aga in, weighed down by the gravity of reality , the focu s is on probl em

solving . The website for the Centre for Des ign and Geopo li tic s based at the

Univer sity of California, San Diego , says it views Cal iforn ia as a design

problem , which ni ce ly captures the scale, ambition, and spirit of their miss ion

to r edes ign geopolitics rather than trying to solve problems within existing

political st ru ctures . 16 This is much close r to our interest in prov iding new

perspectives , spa r king fresh thinking, and broadening th e imaginative scope

of thinking in t his area .

But of course writ ers have been doing this for a long t ime , and many

utopias (and dystopias) are forms of political fiction . One of the first by a

des igner is William Morris's News from Nowhere in 1890, which set out his v ision

for an alternative England set in a ut opian future . 17 Since 2000 there has

been a spate of des ign books explori ng ideas arou nd alternati ve models of

everyd ay life from economics to language . Architect Ben Nicolson ' s The Wor ld :

Who Wants It (2004) sets out a new world order funded by t he United States

t hat addresses some of the world's more complex problems in imaginative ly

impracti cal ways . More recent ly , Ste rn be r g Press ' s Solution Series in vit es

authors to reimagine exist ing countr ies . In Solution 239-246 : Finland : The

Welfare Game ( 2011) , Mart ti Kalliala , Jenna Sutela , and Tuomas Toivonen set

out eight and one-half ideas for a new Fin la nd includ ing host ing t he world's

nuclear waste and sending its young around the world as gap -year ambassadors

of Finn ish my thol ogy to boost the tou r ist trade . In Solution 77-767 : The Book

of Scot lands ( Every Lie Creates a Parallel World. The World in Which It Is True J,

Mom us describes hundreds of Scotlands , all fictional , some more bizarre than

others . The series applies imagination to issues ranging f ro m national identity

and mythology to contemporary soc ial and economic prob lems in ways that

inspire the reader to spe cu late and imagine , t oo . Although they do not offer

des ign proposals they do provide fascinat ing briefs .

Can des ign operate in this way, borrowing methods f rom litera t ure and

art and applying them to the real world as thought experiments? The desig n

collective Metahaven has developed a susta ined crit ique of neolibe r alism

through a series of uncorp or at e ident it ies for imaginary corporat e

government stat es by subverting branding and corporate identity strateg ies

f rom a graphic design perspecti ve . 18 Their Face state ( 2011) instal lati on for

Graphic Design : Now in Production at t he Walk er Art Center explored parallel s

betw/en soc ial software and the state : " It is about politicians hailing the

entrepreneurship of Mark Zuckerberg, about the neol i beral dream of minimal

170 CHAPTER 9

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government interference, about the governance of social networks , about

face recognition , about debt , about the future of money and currency in

so cia l ne t work s , and abou t t he dream of total participation 0 "

19 Metahaven

combines extensive research with the setting out of fictional corporate

governmen t hybrids t hrough design 0


Wh er eas Metah aven goes st r aigh t t o t he heart of the system pr oducing

political fictions expressed through corporate brand and identities , we are

interested in exploring how the consequences of different political sys t ems

might affect things such as food production, transport, energy, and wor k ,

ideally with surprising and unexpected outcomes or how different political

systems could create very different experiences of everyday life . Eneropa

(2010) by Rem Koolhaas ' s think tank AMO is part of a study for the Euro pea n

Climate Foundation called Roadmap 2050 looking at energy strategies for

Europe . The main idea is to run Europe on a shared grid of renewable energy .

Although the project consists of a substantial report, it is one image that

catches our attention, a fictional map of an alternative Europe wit h region s

renamed according to the ir main source of renewable energy-Isles of Winds ,

Tidal States, Solaria , Geothermalia, Biomassburg, and so on . It is a simple

image for a complex idea but it is effective and can easily facilitate debate

and discussion about shifting European identities due to shared ene r gy

sources among the public, pol icy makers, and the energy industry .

r---

\lap of

ENEROPA

Rem Koolhaa s , AMO , Roadmap 2050 Eneropa , 2010 . © OMA .

172 CHAPTER 9

THI: UN111 1) MI CI((J KIN GDO MS: 1\ TII OUGIII LX PI- RIM LNT?0

Inspired IJy dll lilh l> iq tllinking we dec id ed to try a des ign exper im ent to Ld ke

the literary imdgination behind the Sternberg Solution series, or The lvorld,

Who Wants It, and combine it with more concrete design speculations .

After finding the wonderfully titled The Beginner's Guide to Nation

Building published by the RAND Corporation in 200 7 ,21

we began to wonder ho w

nations were built and if states cou ld be designed . Architects ha ve long

developed master plans f or c ities and reg ions . Could we talk about bi g ideas

throu gh small th ings? The Design Museum in London invited us to try .

It is common in the design of technology products and services to start

with pe r sonas, then develop scenarios, all within existing r eal ity . Here , we

wanted to zoom out and start with new r ea li ties (ways of organi zi ng everyday

life through alternat ive be liefs, va lu es , pr ioriti es , and ideology) then

develop scenarios and poss ibly pe r sonas to bring it to life , to "tell worlds

rat her than stori es , " as Bruce Sterling so aptly puts it . 22 By presenting the

viewer with design proposals f or objects , would they imagine the world the

designs belong to and move from the specif ic to the general? This is ve ry

different from other world- making activit ies such as c inema and game des ign

in whi ch th e world itself is shown, and even arch itecture , which usually

presents an overview from whi ch the viewer has to imagine the specific .

SO YOU WANT TO DESIGN A STATE?23

We explored different ways of constructi ng alternative ideologica l syst em s

and came across a type of chart used to illustrat e different polit ical

positions. Th ere ar e sever al variation s but they typically hav e four points on

tw o axes : left , right , authoritarian, and libertarian. The left- right axis

usually defines economic f r eedom whereas the libertarian-authorit ar ian axis

defines personal freedom . 24

Based on these , we began to explore an

altern ati ve England divided into f our regions with different ideologies . We

used the Un ited Kingdom because a comp lete ly im agina r y place wou ld lack any

connect ion to the world we current ly occ upy. 25 We hoped calling th em micro

kingdoms rather t ha n mi cro-states or micro-nations would suggest t hey are

more li ke fables or tales based on imaginat ion rather than hard scenarios

based on analysis and reason-somewhere between sci-fi and foresight .

Not wanting to visualiLe the world in a cinematic way or use pieces of

evidence such as flags, documents , and ot her bi ts of everyday li fe but

instead to present it th rough one type of object that would allow fo r

co mparisons between th e different micro-k ingdoms, we needed to find an

appropri ate vehicle . We chose transport . Tr ansport involves not only

173 SPECULATIVE EV ERYTH IN G

Lcc ll llo louy dlld p rod u c L ~ l)uL also infrusLru c Lurr; we co uld Lhink big but

presen t our Lhin ki ng at t he more concrete sc ale of vehi c les . Eac h vehicle

would embody di fferent ideo log ies , values , priorities , and bel ief systems

essenti ally al ternat ive world views .

Many assume that when fossil fuels r un out Wes t ern poli ti cs will co ntinue

and simply apply itself to what ever new f orm of energy r ep laces fossi l fuels.

This is not necessaril y the case . We stern politi ca l sys t ems are intr icately

entan gled wi t h fossil fuels . As Timothy Mitchell writes in Hydrocarbon Utopia ,

" Th e lead ing indust riali zed count ries are also oil states . Without the energy

they derive from oil, their current forms of political and economic life wo uld

not exist. Their c iti zens have developed ways of eati ng , trave ling , hous in g

themselves , and consum ing ot her goods and serv ic es tha t r equi re ve ry large

amounts of energy from oi l and other foss i l f uel s. " 26

By working wit h veh icles we cou ld playful ly explore new combinations of

polit ical sys t ems and energy sou r ces in a post-fossil-fuel En gland divided into

fou r super sh ires , each exper imenting with different forms of energy,

economi cs, po li t ics , and ideology . Each one offers an alternative to a foss il

f uel -dependent world and is des igned to expose trade-offs : co nve nience

versus control , indiv idual freedom ve r sus hardship , unl imited ener gy versus a

limited population . Vehicles are also highly charged symbols of f r eedom an d

indiv iduality , which would al low us to explo r e how new dr eams might evo l ve f or

each mic ro-kingdom . Eac h vehicle would stand for something mor e t han itself,

not exactl y a metaphor, more a synecdoche .

Next we sketched out four regions and four combinations of t echnology

and ideology : communism and nucl ear energy , social democracy and

biotechno logy , neoliberalism and digital techno logy , and anarchy and se l f

experimentation .

The project narrative is as fol lows : In an effort to reinv ent itself for

the twenty-first century , England devolved in to fou r supershires inhabited

by dig ita rians , bioliber als , anarcho-evolutionists, and communo -nuclearists .

Each co unty became an experimental zone free to develop its own form of

governance , economy, and lifest yle . England became a deregulated laborator y

for competing soc ial, ideolog ical , and economic models . Its aim was to discover

through experimentation the best soc ial, pol itical , and eco nomi c structure

to ensure its ex istence in the new postcrash world order-a so r t of

preapocalyptic exper im ent des ig ned to avoid t he t hi ng itself , whic h

in creas ingly , seemed inev itable .

174 CHAPTER 9

Authoritarian

• Digitarians

Left

·Communonuclearists

• Bioliberals • Anarcho

evolutionists

Libertarian

Polit ical Chart . Ill us tra t ion by Kellen berger-White.

DIGIT ARIANS

Right

As their name suggests, digitarians depend on digita l tec hnology and all its

impli c i t total itarianism-tagging , metric s , tota l surve i llance , track ing , data

logging , and 100 percent transpa r ency . Their society is org anize d ent irely by

market fo rces ; c iti zen and consu mer are t he same . For t hem , nature is t here

to be used up as necessary . They are gov erned by technocrats , or

algori t hms-no one is ent i r ely sure or cares-as long as everything r uns

smoothly and people are pr esent ed with c hoices , even if illusiona ry . It is t he

most dystop ian yet fam ili ar of all the mi c ro- k ingdoms .

Their main form of transport is t he digicar , a development of electric

se lf-d r ive ca rs be ing pionee r ed today by co mp anies such as Google . 27 Th e ca r

has evolved from being a vehicle for navigating space and tim e , to being an

interf ace for navigating tariffs and market s . Every squ are meter of r oad

surfa ce and ever y millisecond of access , at any moment, is mon et ized an d

optimi zed . Today , se lf-d ri ve cars are presented as soc ial spa ces f or rela xing

co mmut es , but digicars are c loser to economy airl ines , offering the most

basic but humane exper ience . It is essentially an app lian ce , or com puter,

co nstantly ca lculating the best , most economi c r oute . The dashboard doesn't


Dunne & Raby, Digicars , f r om United Micro Kingdoms , 2013 . Compu t er model by

Graeme Findlay .

have speed or rev cou nte r s but readouts for money versus t im e . Those on

pay-as-you-go contracts rather than prepaid ones must calcula t e in real

time : " move into the blue lane for 34 minutes t o save £15 . 48 on your current

trrp"-no mean feat .

These highly responsive, tailored pricing systems , ostensibly to meet

individual needs and opti mi ze road access, are really designed to maxrmize

profit . The roads are still owned by the state but companies bulk buy access

and offer it to their customers in the same way telecom compan ies today

manage the radio spectrum .

The digicar does allow for expression of status though . Power and speed

are replaced by footprint and pri v acy-how much space you take up and

whether it is shared or not . There ar e priority tariffs , and options for

sha r ing journeys whi le ma intaining privacy . Tarrffs are calculated according

to a P5 index : price , pace , pr oxemics , pr iority, and privacy . There is also a

sleeper optron in which the traveler is put to sleep and sent on his or her way

wi th all vital functions r emotely monrtored .

As dig icars are computer managed and contro ll ed , they rare ly crash or

coll ide, consequently their des igns are simple and utilitarian. They resemble

appliances : cute , cha rm ing, basic . The digicar stands for all that is wrong

with today' s services. It is the ideal solution for a society that promotes

freedom of c hoice and entitlement above all else, even in the face of ever

dimin ishing resources, such as road space .

176 CHAPTER 9

Dunne & Ra by , Digicars with Rock, from United Micro Kingdoms , 207 3 . CGI

by Tomma so Lanza .

Dunne & Raby , Digicars , f r om United Micr o Kingdoms , 207 3 . CGI by Tommaso

Lan za .

177 SPECU LATIV E EVERYT HING

Dunne & Raby, Digicars, from United Micro Kingdoms, 2013 . Photograph by

Jason Evans .

178 CHAPTER 9

As o 11 <' 111 i q 11 t I' x pI'< L , () i g i Ian d is Ill cl d c o f vas l , nev er - c 11 ding pI an c s of

larmac : a c. ro ss beLween airpo r l runway s , sport s fie lds, and ca r parks , dense

with mark ings no human can decode-a landscape exc lus ive ly for mach ines.

Clean electr ic cars mean distinctions between inside and outside are

minim ized ; roads flow through houses, shops , and factories .

Digitarians are already among us and their mind -set is shaping the world

around us . How far are we prepared to let it spread?

··---··· ... -· -··-···,.·--······ -· _., ....... _ ....... -· -····-.. ·-··· ... -· ·-····-····ii··· -· ·-····-···-······ .•.

'·· II ...• .-·-· , .• , • ...• - ..... ,. __ ,_ ··,· .. , __ . . . . -\ ··-·-·····,.

' ' • i • ' Q il ~ .. . 0 ' /.,·····--'"-···-·-· ,.. i • .;. ~~ ~ ~~~ 'il • = a' ._ ! !!l y• •· · • o • · .. •Q • J· ~ - ·'-!~' ' ; • tE I II j · ~ · '. £1:1 .. .. , 1!!!!!11 .

i -rl) ~~.~ l -=-·, , , , ! . ~ • . ' , , , . ..... a .... D ··---1 CL._. ....... • . ·-·• . .. _.

Dunne & Raby , Oigiland, from United Micro Kingdoms, 2073 . Video still from an

an imat ion by Nico las Mye r s .


I

BIOLIBERALS

Wherea s digitarians use digital techno logy to manage supply and demand of

diminishing resources and to create an illusion of un l imited access for all , t he

bioliberals who are soc ial democrats . pursue biotechnology , and with it, new

values . 28 They , t oo , want freedom and choice for all but they want it to last .

Biolibera ls l ive in a wor ld in wh ich t he hype of synthetic biology has come true

and de li vered on its prom ises . Ma ss ive govern ment investmen t in

bi otechnology has led to a society in sy mbios is with the natural world. Biology

is at the center of their world view , giving rise to a radi ca lly different

Dunne & Raby , Biocar , from United Micro Kingdoms, 2013 .

Photograph by Jason Evans .

180 CHAPTER 9

Dunne & Raby, Biocars , from United Micro Kingdoms , 2013 .

technological landscape to our own . Nature is enhanced to meet gr owing human

needs but peop le also adjust their needs to match available resources . Each

person produces his or her own energy according to their needs . Bioliberals

are essentially farmers , cooks , and gardeners . Not just of plants and food ,

but of pr oducts too . Gardens , kitchens , and far ms replace facto rie s and

wo r ks hops .

Bio libera ls regard the use of huge amounts of energy to overcome

gravity and wind resistance to be counterproductive and primitive . Faster is

no longer better . People travel in extremely light organically grown ,

biofueled vehicles, each customized to its owner ' s dimensions and needs .

Fossil fuel and the combustion eng ine is an impressive combination that

dominates and shapes t he Western world today . Wh ole dreams of f r eedom have

grown f rom it . But it is unsustainable on so many f ronts . Wh at if we looked at

transport through a biotechnological lens : what would a true biocar be like?

Ones we have seen don't look so different . Current research into biof ue ls

such as algae aims to replace petrol so that little has to change .


If we were Lo fu ll y embra ce dll aiLcr· rr aLivc Lcc hnology like

biotechnology , soc iety and its infrastructure would hav e Lo substantially

change . Is it f ut il e to even cons ider designing a bi ocar from scrat ch? Based

on current values it seems t o make no sense at all, but perha ps that's the

po int .

The bioliberal car combin es two technologies : anaer obic digesters that

produce gas and fuel cells that use the gas to produce electri c i t y . Bag s of

uncompress ed gas ca nnot compete with the efficie ncy of fossil fuel s, a fu el

based on mill ions of years of preparation compared t o one that takes hours or

days . The resulting cars are sl ow, bulky , messy, sme lly, and made of skin,

bone , and mu sc le , not literal ly but in abst r acted forms . Wh eels , f or example,

are power ed ind ividual ly usin g jellyl ike art if ic ial muscles . 29

We wanted their vehicles t o be nonaerodyn ami c, big and unwieldy,

suggesting t hat a ve ry different logic in for ms their design, one that is

absurd f r om today' s perspective . But t hat's the point . Th is i s a visual

expr ession of what needs to c hange if we are to develop new ways of exist ing

based on new values .

ANARCHO - EV OLUT IONISTS

The anarcho-evolutionists abandon most tec hno logies , or at leas t stop

developing t hem , and concentrate on using sci ence to maxim ize thei r own

capabi li ties through training, DIY biohacking , and se lf- experim entation . They

believe t hat humans shou ld modify themse lves to exist with in the l imits of the

planet rather t han mod ify ing the planet to meet their ever-gro wing needs .

There is a high number of trans- and posthu man is t s among ana rcho

evolution ists . They essentia lly t ake evolut ion into their own hands . Very

little is regulated ; citizens can do as they please as long as it doesn ' t harm

anyone else .

The anarcho-evolutionists have little t rust in government and tend to

self-organize . Citizen's r ights ar e based only on trus t and agreement

between individuals and groups. They are the opposite of dig itarians . The

human is at the center of t heir world , along with freedom from being to ld what

to do .

The anarcho - evolution ist ' s world is a world without ca r s . Their

transport is either human , wind , or genetically modified animal powered . The

vehi c les are designed around t he princip le of organizat ion without hierarc hy

and em body their soci al order and va lues . Sociality and coopera t ion are mo r e

important t han speed and competiti veness . A misconcept ion about ana r chy is

that it is c haot ic ; in fact, anarchism depends on a high degree of

182 CHAPTER 9

Dunne & Raby, Very Large Bike (VLB J, from United Micro

Kingdoms , 2013 . Photography by Jason Evans .

organization . It's just t hat it is flexible, fluid, and nonhierarchical . The

anarcho-evolu t ion ists travel in groups , each doing what they are best at ,

and each is responsible for a bit of the vehicl e. The vehicles reflect their

social order and values . The bike is not as many would expect, a co l lection of

independ ent bikes , but a very large bike ( VLB) designed f or traveling long

distances in groups , pooling effort and resources . Traveling on abandoned

mo t orways , it is gently steered by leaning , each person knowing from

experience and practice just how much is required of them. Th e elderly ,

young , an d weak ar e carr ied along by the others and are experts at sing ing

and tel li ng stori es to entertain and motiva t e the cyclists .

183 SPECULATIV E EVERYTHING

Ill <' f tt1nily or < lc.lll is L11 e mos L imporld11L soc ial uniL. r amiti es evo lve

ar ound parLicular forms of tran sport using a co mbination of genetic

modification, training, and the pa ss ing down of knowledge and sk ill s from

generation to generation . A distinctive phys ique is associated with each clan

and is a matter of pride . Cyclists have well - developed thighs , balloonists are

tall and willo wy, and so on . As well as modifying themselves , anarcho

evolution ists have developed new forms of animal to satisfy their needs : the

hox is a mix of horse and ox , a hybrid animal br ed to move heavy loads and pull

carriages , while the pitsky is a co mbinat ion of pit bull terrie r and husky ,

designed for pulli ng smaller loads and personal protection .

Dunne & Raby , Balloonist , Cyclist, Hox , and Pit sky, from

United Micro Kingdoms , 2013 . Photograph by Jason Evans .

184 CHAPTER 9

COMM UNO NUCI I AHI ) I S

Th e co mn1 uno 11u c l rt~r i s L soc ieLy is a no - growLh, limiLed popu lation

experim ent. They li ve on a three - kilometer-long, nuc lear - powered, mobile

landscape t hat crawls from one end of t he country to the other, straddling

two sets of three-meter-wide tracks . Each carriage is twenty by forty

meters , an d there are seventy - f i ve of them. 30 The env iron men t surrounding

the tracks , like a demilitarized zone , is fully naturalized, a sort of nature

parad ise to be enjoyed by nature- lov ing comm uno-nuclearists from the sa f ety

of their train .

Dunne & Raby, Train, from United Micro Kingdoms, 2013 . CGI by Tommaso Lanza .

The st at e provides everything . They depend on nuclear energy for the ir

continued survival and , although they are energy rich it comes at a price-no

one wants to li ve near them and they are under co nstant threat of attack or

accident, even though their energy source uses a relat ive ly sa fe thorium

reactor . Consequently , they are organ ized as a highly disciplined mobile

mic r o-state . Ful ly centra l ized , everything is plann ed and reg ulated. They are

voluntary pr isoners of pleasure , free from the pressures of daily survival ,

commun ist s shar ing in lux ury not pover ty . Like a popular night club there is a

one - out one - in policy bu t for l ife .


Dun ne & Raby , Train , f rom United Micro Kingdoms , 2013.

Inhab itants l ive ins ide t he mountains , which co ntain labs , facto r ies ,

hyd r oponic gardens , gyms , dor ms , ki t chens, nightc l ubs , and eve r yt hing els e

th ey need . On the mounta ins ar e sw imm ing poo ls , f ish f arms , an d bookabl e

huts f or peri ods of i so lat ion .

Although inspi r ed by 1950s , 1960s , and 1970s dreams of space colonies ,

olde r UMK dwelle r s see echoes of early twenty - f i r st - century Duba i on tracks .

The t r ain all ows two ve ry different sides of t heir co l lective psycho logy to

flourish . At times i t i s a hedonis t ic p layground , a very loud , vast mobil e

pleasure pa r adise announced in advance by a slo w thu mpi ng sound , like a party

cruise boa t on t he Thames . Bu t mostly , like t he 1930s Californian

homesteader s it is a co mmunity seek ing isolation on the edges of civilizat ion,

away f r om t he det rimental effects of t he Anthropoce ne . An eco logica l

wilderness simil ar t o demil i ta r ized zones has emer ged along i ts route where an

absence of humans me an s an abunda nce of wild li fe , and rare speci es can

th r i ve. Anyon e who gets too close is za pped wit h a noise cannon . Their

surviva l r equ ires extraor di nary discipline , but t o mai nt ain mental well- being in

such a confined env i r onment, d iversit y is accommodated as mu ch as is

possib le .

186 CHAPTE R 9

lllP Jr dill 1·. oil I .lid I ()I' i llld(ji ll in(j till ('1' 11<11 ivP Wtl Y'• of orqdlli/iTH) ('V(I I'Y<i tl y

life with in t1 ; t•r·o qrowth sys t em. It is designed to be sugges tiv e , for people to

wonder whaL might lie in side t he mountains , how it would work, and what it would

be li ke to l ive on . The potential for t his kind of design-inspired by policy, soc ial

sc ience , and the wo r ld around us but expressed through imaginative design

specula t ions is beautifully put by t he Wel lcome Tr ust ' s Ken Arnold speak ing

abou t what des ign has to offer other disciplines such as science :

Dunne & Raby , Train , from United Micro Kingdoms ,

2013 . Photogr aph by Jason Evans .


I Ocshm '"" be J lhe S[dblc Plalfoem on Which to entectain unusua l

bed f e/Jows . The glue foe things that may not be natuca/Jy St/c ky . The lubeicant that allows movement between ideas that don ' t quite cun

togethee. The medium theough Which we can make otheewise 'Wkwacd

connections and compacisons . The language foe teic ky con vecsatlons and translations . 3 '

Dunne & Raby , Train, from United Micro kingdoms, 2073 . Photograph by Jason Evans .

188 CHAPTER 9

NEW R~i\I II I I S

As we rapiclly III OV(' lowdrd a monoculture Lhat makes imagining genuine

alternat iv es almo st imposs ib le , we need to experiment wi t h way s of deve loping

new and distinctive world views that include different beliefs, values, idea ls,

hopes , and fears from today' s . If our belief systems and ideas don' t change ,

then rea lity won 't change either . It is our hope that spec ulating t hrough

design wi l l allow us to develop alternative socia l imaginaries that open new

perspect ives on the challenges facing us .

The idea of the "proposal" is at t he heart of this approach to des ign : to

propose , to suggest , to offer something . Th is is what design is good at. It

can sketch out possibilities . Althou-gh these proposals draw from rigorous

analysis and thorough research , it's important they do not lose their

imag inati ve , impr obab le , and provocat ive qua l ities . They are closer to

literature than social science, emphasize imagination over practicality, and

ask questions rather than provide answers . The project ' s value is not what it

ac hi eves or does but what i t is and how it ma kes people f eel , espec iall y if it

encourages peop le to question , in an imaginative, troubling, and thoughtfu l

way, everydayness and how things could be different . To be effective, the

work needs to co ntain contradictions and cognitive gl itches . Rather than

offering an easy way forwa r d , it highlights di lemmas and trade-offs between

imperfect alternatives . Not a solution , not a "better" way , just an other

way . Viewers can make up their own minds .

Thi s is wher e we be lieve specu lati ve des ign can f louri sh- pr ovid ing

complicated pleasure , enriching our mental lives , and broadening our minds in

ways that complement other media and di sc iplines . It ' s about mean ing and

cu l tu re , about addin g to wh at li fe cou ld be , challeng ing wh at it is , and

providing alternatives that loosen the ties rea lity has on our ability to dream .

Ultimately, it is a catalyst for social dreaming .


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